Archery target butt



y 1947.. c. A. SAUNDERS 2,423,347

ARCHERY TARGET BUTT Original Filed Aug. 5, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 mmvrox 1947' C. A. SAUNDERS 2,423,347

ARCHERY TARGET BUTT Original Filed Aug. 5, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 31 J2 15 Y Y qg 20 C. A. SAUNDERS ARCHERY TARGET BUTT 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 July 1, 1947.

Original Filed Aug. 5, 1941 IIIIIIII;

' region, where most of the arrows as it oughtto be more tightly injured.

'ciently smooth and uniform. The target butts-of Patented July 1, 1947 UNITED STATE ARCHERY TARGET BUTT 1 '3 Charles A. Saunders, Manilla,,,lowa i V Q 7 Original application August 5, '1941," Serial No.

405,565. Divided and this applicationAprilz'i, 1944, Serial No. 532,928

5 Claims. (01. 273-102).

This invention relates to improvements archery target butts. r

This application is adivision of my prior application Serial No. 405,565, filed August 5, l94=l,and entitled Method of making archery target butts and machineiy therefor, now Patent Number 2,372,856, granted April 3, 1945.

Archery target butt hitherto have been made by hand without the assistance of special machinery. According to the method of the prior art, a handful of straw is twisted into a small spiral coil, from which the ends of the stalks protrude tangentially. The coil is stitched to hold it together. Thereafter the ends of another handful of straw are placed against the 'coil under the tangentially protruding portion, and both said protrudingv previous portion and the newly added straw are Wrapped about the periphery of the coil, the ends of the preceding portion covering the beginning of the newly added portion, The free ends of the previously added portion are pulled tautly against the coil with one hand, and the body of said portion ishammered into place by means of a mallet wielded in the other hand. While still pulling on the free ends of the previously added portion with one hand,

the body of said portion and the underlying ends of the newly added portion arefastened to the coil by means of a needle and twine manipulated with the other hand. Because of the resilient nature of the felted mat, it is necessaryto fasten each handful of straw in position immediately after hammering it into place. The above described series of operations is repeated until a butt of the desired size has been made.

Not only is hand manufacture slow, tedious, and expensive, but in addition considerable difficulty isencountered in making the butt truly circular, Hand-made butts have the following principal defects: (1) They are notgsuiiiciently dense, and accordingly wear out too rapidly under the pounding of the arrows. (2) The center strike, is less tightly wound than the peripheral region, wherewound, since it is exposed to the greater Wear. (3) The butt has a tapered rim, and arrows striking the thin por-' tion thereof may pass completely therethrough and be stripped of their feathers or otherwise (4) The striking surface is not suffithe present invention do not have the above deficiencies.

In making my improved target butts, thestraw or other raw;-material is coiled, compressed,

. Work while is coiled about amandrel. (which however may shaped, andcontinuously maintainedjin "shape and under compression, by means of a taut, moving endless belt which substantially encircles the the article is being made. .Thef'straw consist of straw twisted into'the necessary shape) rotated by the movement of the encirclingbelt.

. Suitable guides areprovided. to control the width of the butt, and "to insurethatthe faces thereof are plane and. relatively smooth; The. work. is maintained in and under suitable compression size, the otherwise complete .butt'may be sewed t at one time while itis still in the machine.

.riphery of the butt.

- if desired,.a strip of fabrieimayjbe fedinto the machine and thereby wrapped around the pe- After the annular casing thus formed has been joined'togetherin anysuitable manner, the article .may be 'removedfrom the machine and sewed at leisure, theannular casing meanwhile preventing expansion ofjthe compacted mass comprising the article.

It is an object of the present: invention, therefore, to provide an improved archery target butt. Another object is. to provide an archery'target butt which has a relatively hard, densely packed .midsection impermeable to arrows and relatively soft, smooth,.uniform striking surfaces adapted to hold and retain a striking arrow.

Another object is to provide a spirally'coiled butt which is more densely packed near the center than near the periphery.

, The foregoing and such other objects, advantages and capabilities as may'appear' herein or be pointed out as this description proceeds; or

as are inherentinthe present invention, areillus- {trated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

invention,

, Figure 1 is a "centralverticaljlongitudinal*sec- "tional viewftaken pn line f Figural Figure 2 is a plan view of a machine-suitable forconstructing the target butt-of the present the frame of said machinebeing shown in broken lines to avoid confusion. v v

Figure 3 isa fragmentary detail view incentraLvertical longitudinal section and illustrates the. matformingj Portion of the machine shown in Figures 1 and 2 at the beginning of the cycle of operation. Y

Figure/l is somewhatsimilar t0 Fi 3, andillu's- ;tratesa laterstagein the manufacturing proc- -ess. I

the desired shape by theguides and the encircling belting. throughoutthe course. of manufacture, sothat it Figure 5 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 4.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on a diameter of an archery target butt embodying the present invention, and illustrates the manner in which the center of the butt may be stuffed.

Figure 7 gisxa iragmentary :jelevational viewiof the periphery of my improved target butt.

Figure 8 is a front elevational view of the face of such a target butt.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary detailtviewi-imnentral vertical transverse section andlillustrates a modified form of apparatus whichdispenseswith the use of a mandrel between 'thetguidemlates.

Like reference characte-rssare nsedftlmiesignate similar parts in the drawings and in the description of the invention which follows.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, Eigures. Land 2 illustrateuone form of a majchine suitableformaking'my improved-"archery tar et. butts.

L'Ihemachineryis'arrangedon asuitableframework 2 having legs;8,; 8 and a'sh-e-lf' or table'portionf3. L'Mov'ably arranged.pporr'the framework lzfnearsone endthereof is abelt tightener, "exem- .,Dlified'hyithelslidingfcarriagetmounted uporrthe l. lailsiffli 31. carryingthel DfillBTB. "Nearthe opposite end of .lthejframe. the" mandrel I- is ,positioned. rTheiiframewo-rk supports "asupergsuitable meansjfforldrivin j a belt, exemplifiediby ltheelectiiicemdtorjflifl. jAttalchew to said motor 1.0 isithedrivewheelj I l. iiPa'Ssingioverthe"pulley ej' the mafidlilil. andZthefjdiiveWheel H is'the" endless? be1tll'2.

. To. l the hbelt. .sti'ghtener is; attached va suitable :ttensioning' device, ..exemplifiedLLbY.theiweight.V l 3 ,which. isuattachedtofithe .carriageAjby ,means of athe cord 14,. which passes-eover,lthe,,pulley .15. ;=:Alternatively- One Trend, rof ga spring. may lbeliat- Ttachedito;theflcarriaees l and the other ,;end. may ebeiattached .tmsome .fixedmontion iof-Tthef iframetwork 2 ,whereby. motion-got. ,theecarriageijto; the

observerZsa-righ-teisiyieldablyriresisted. .fQriifQdesired, thellillleyi Gamay beifixed, .and'thei =nieces- :saryrtensiommay belobtainedgby,makingthebeIt ,l2.,,.of. ,elastic material.andlstretching; it tautly tween pulley ;6.-,and ,the. manidreril.

desired, Qidler pulley'....l,6 ,inayi be p'laced nearu-theidrive, wheel. I I .so, ,as ito guides-the belt 12 to avoid slippingbetween theubeltilurandithe adrivewwheel- LI.

:- The fledged: is inclined somewhat tothe' right.

:.-1ment; .the;motors22 :moves thesidler. carriage .I9

and the pulley-villathereon pnogressively to the .rli ht. v

v --.=Mounted yponrthescaffoldfl lathe, pivotal guide erm. '23. -.;!I het said guide arm 23.:isss'lotted, and

.-the brace-iqepasses .throughsaidslot, andlimits the movement of "said guide arm 2310a verti- ..-.ca1;-p1ane. Attached-.tathe,freeend of saidzguid iarmi23iiswthe; guide roller"25; which rests'upon the belt "I2. -Projecting fromthe scaffoldfi' is a guide roll 21 under which the belt l2 passes. Fixed to the mandrel 1, on each sid of the belt l2, are the circular guid plates 28, 28. Said guide plates 28 are spaced by the mandrel l, and said plates and said mandrel are mounted concentrically on the center stud 29 (see Figure Fig.9 illustrates a modification of the apparatus, -in :which the'jframe 2 is: provided with brackets 33. The upper surface of each of said brackets 38 follows the arc defined by the center of the butt as the Work increases in size. ZIhezmandrel 1 and the center stud 29 are dispensed with,,,and the straw or the like is coiled "about aplug formed of the same material. If desiredathe :end,--guides 40, 48 may be provided swithrpointsa lMM to .be anchored in said plug 319. #Prntrudingroutwardly from the center of each, .uide plate 40 is a bearing 42, which, if desired, may be flanged as shown. One or more spacer clamps 43 may be employed to prevent *theguide'plateS 49; 40 from becoming separated too far while the butt is under-construction.

=For;purposes ofillustrationjI' shall-now describ -th constructionof'a strawarchery target butt with theaidof-the foregoing apparatus. It is distinctly to be understood, however, that my improved archery 'tar'get-buttsmay be made of'=fibrous"materials-otherjthanstraw such as vegetable fibers'for example.

At the-beginning of the cycle of operati-on 'the -maohinefis infthecondition illustrated in Figures 1,12, and 3,'the;pul ley carriage 4 being in *itsreXtreme position-to the left. The mandrel l'floatsupontheidlerlfi. The'guide plates-"2'8, 28 arerrotat'ably attached to "the mandrel. The

"subassembly consisting of 'the=mandrel, center stud, "and guide plates 'is'heldin place by the guide armfi26, the end ofWhicnprojectsbetween "the two-guide plates-"28. The idler "-pulley 21 at 1311861161 of the guide arm 2B "rests ,upon the belt l2-"a nd "causes-said belt 'almostcompletely ;to surround the mandrel 1. "The ipivotal. guide armj23 is supportedsuitably; 'so that/the roller 25 is maintained a, few inches "above the1beltl2.

Aisupplypf straw3 I; is placed upon the table The motor Idmoves the beltllz in "the direc- 'tiontindicated' by the arrows. :An operatormanually feedsthe straw/3L intofthe hopper orieed funnel '11. If desired,, the. straw may betwisted into.,a rope before'being fed into the hopper ll,

' or while beingsofed.

To it is joined theimouth bf -theyhopllerlorifeed- The straw..3l passes throughthehopper and is fedupon the belt'lZ through-thedischar eend of said hopper, said discharge. end being. adjacent the. guide pulley Z1. The motion of'the beltieeds the straw 3| betweenthe'mandrel'l and the belt 12. When the machine beginsitov operate,. the

. mandrel .1 iisirotated by.frictionall-engagement =withthe. moving..belt-l.2. --Asmore strawjlsis fed. into the machine,- it. is iwrapped.,spiral1y. about the. mandrel-*1. At this stage,.-the-mandrel-- and the work-rotate, :but-the guide plates r28, :28' usu- -.al-ly dornot.

ASi'the work-becomes larger,s'frictional engage- =ment-ofathe coiled =str-aw=.with the guideaplates causes' the latter: to rotate with the wo-rk: and the mandrel. Also, the work *Will "raise "the *belt I 2 until-it makes coritact with the '--roller 25 and =floatsthe pivotalguide' arm 23 o'fii its support. Thereafter said roller 25-wlll rest upon the =-work and assist in -compressing 'the same. 'If' deSired, said guide arm 23 may be suitab1y.=1oaded,=as shown at' 44;- to increase ""the pressure upon the the fixed guide arm 26, which likewise carries -work. -Theguide am de-maintains the-guide plates 28, 25 in vertical positionpand prevents said guide plates from wobbling. v

The weight it keeps the belt l2 under tension at all times. As' the workprogresses, the parts take the relative positions shown in Figure 4. 'It

is to be noted that the belt l2 almost completely surrounds the work 32 throughout the course of operation, and that the tension of the belt serves to compress the work at all times. This is necessary because a resilient material like straw would spring out into a relatively porous mass if the tension were removed.

belt exerts a force against the work in the form. At the beginning of the operation the total force is distributed over the relatively small peripheral area of the work, for which reason the pressure (force per unit area) is greatest when the size of the'object is smallest. As the coiling operation proceeds and the unfinished'butt becomes larger, the total force due to The tension upon the 'the belt tension is distributed over a larger periphcreases. This causes the carriage A; to be drawn to. the right and the weight J3 to be lifted.

The work is supported by the idler is. As the coiling proceeds, the mandrel I will be displaced upwardly and to the right. Since the center of gravity of the work follows the mandrel 1, it is desirable to move the idler E8 to the right also, as the work progresses; This may be done inany convenient way, as for example by mounting the idler carriage is upon a screw 2 I, so that said carriage may be translated by rotation of said screw. Preferably, said screw is revolved by a synchronou electric motor 22 at such a ratethat the idler It; moves to the right somewhat more rapidly than the mandrel l. v Thiscauses the work to be cradled between the guide roller 2'! and the idler It, as shown in Figure 1 in dotted lines. This arrangement is effective in preventing rocking of the work, as might be the case if it were supported only by the' idler. 'Further, this arrangement increases the clearance between the bottom of the belt i2 and the roller 21, making it possible to increasethe rate at which straw is fed to the work as the latter increases in size.

'I prefer to use a crowned idler I8 having a peripheral width somewhat less than the space between the guide plates 28, 28. The weight of the work tends to crush the straw against the idler, and the arrangement above mentioned results in the formation of an article having a midsection more densely packed than the surface layers. The relatively loose surface layers are easily penetrated by arrows, -so"that| arrow rebounds are minimized; whereas the densely packed central lay-er prevents the arrows from passing therethrough. This effect can be heightened by feeding the straw to the center of the belt, which is readily effected by appropriate adjustment of the discharge end of the hopper I1.

The pressure upon the work crushes the straw 3| against the guide plates 28, '28, withthe result that the striking surfaces of the butt are planar, smooth, and uniform. This improves the appearance of the article, and causes the faces to remain usable for longer periods of time than has heretofore been possible.

The coiling operation may be continued until the butt has been built up to any desired size. At the end of this operation, the pulley carriage will be in the position shown in Figure lat 4, the pivotal guide arm will be in the position shown at, 23, the idler support carriage will be in the position ShOWn at IS, the guide plates will be in the position shown at 28', and the work will have the size and position indicated at 32'. The motors I0 and 22 are then stopped. One or both of the guide plates 28, 28 may be removed, and the butt may be sewed While it is in the machine, in order to maintain the article in compressed condition. Alternatively, the guide plates 23 may be perforated in such manner as to permit the butt to be sewed without removing said plates. After the sewing operation has been completed, the tension onthe belt is relieved, as for example, by disconnecting the weight l3 from the pulley carriage 4. Then the guide plates 28, 28 are removed, and the mandrel l and butt are removedfromthe machine. The center stud 29 is knocked out, the mandrel I is filled with a portion of tightly twisted straw 34, and thereafter the mandrel is knocked out of the butt, care being taken to drive the straw out of the mandrel into the space being vacated by the mandrel itself. ,As the mandrel I is withdrawn from the butt 32, more straw is stuffed into the hollow space left by the mandrel, in order to provide a solid butt having a tightly packed center.

Figure 9 illustrates an alternative arrangement for fabricating a butt built around an initial solid center. A small quantity of straw is twisted or compacted into a plug 39 which serves in place of the mandrel. This plug or small coil may be suitably fastened together, as by stitching, if desired. Said plug 39 is encircled by the belt {2, and the guide plates 40, 49 are pinned to it as shown, the points 4|, 4! being inserted in the ends of the plug along the axis thereof. Each guide plate 49 is supported upon a bracket 38 by means of a bearing 42. Said bearings 42, 42 may be flanged as shown to engage the bracket sides and'prevent wobbling of the guides 40, 40. One or more spacer clamps 43 may be employed to prevent the peripheral edges of the guides '49, M! from separating too far from each other. It will be understood that said clamps 43 do not rotate with said guides 49, 4B. As the work grows larger, the. bearings 42, 4'2 will move along the brackets 33, 38, following substantially the same trajectory as the mandrel E does in the previously discussed embodiment. In other respects, the construction of the butt is the same under both arrangements, except, of course, that in the arrangement shownin Figure 9, it is not neces sary, to remove any mandrel and stuff the hollow space left thereby.

Figure '7 is a fragmentary central section along a. diameter of the finished butt, and shows the stitching 35, the stuffed core 34, and the fiat peripheral edge 36. My improved target butt has a relatively constant diameter rim, which is much to be preferred over th rounded peripheral edge of the target butts of the prior art, because arrows which strike near the periphery of my improved butt will be caught, instead of passing through a thin edge region and thereby being stripped of their feathers. 7

Instead of stitching the butt while it is under compression in the machine, the following alternative procedure (which is the preferred proi7 .cedure) may be followed. When the butt :has reached the desired size,- a strip of burlap, heavy wrapping paper, "or other 'suitable fabric is 'fed into the hopper l7, whereupon the movement-of the belt 12 causes said strip to 'be wound around the periphery of the butt 32; Thereafter, the ends .of-the" fabric'are joined together in any'suitablerman'ner, asfor-example, by means of buckles. Or the fabric may be passed several times around the butt and the overlapping layers may be sewed together. Thusthe coiled straw disk isprevented from uncoiling by the fabric belt in which it is retained. The straw 'disk and .its surrounding belt may now be removed from the machine. The article may be sewed in the-usual manner at any time thereafter. It will then-present the appearance-shownin Figure 8, in which the fabric casing is designated at 45, and the stitching at 35. If desired, the casing45 may be removed after the straw has been sewed down, but Iprefer to sew said-casing l5 to the rest of the butt in order to utilize it as a permanentreinforcement.

Comparison between target butt-s embodying the present invention and ordinary target butts, conclusively demonstrates the superiority of the former. My target butt is round, has planar, parallel, and smooth striking .faces, and -a cylindrically shaped .rim. The straw or other fiber is packed together far more compactly than is the casein prior constructions. Because of this, one of myimproved target butts .of tournament qualityandhaving the standard diameter and weight is substantially thinner than the previously known target butts, and therefore is more convenient to handle, andrtakes upiless storage space. Because the density of packing is greatest where the wear is greatest, my improved targets are particularly .long wearing.

While I have explained how my improved archery target butt may be made by utilizing the apparatus described and claimed in my lcopending application Serial No. 405,565, it will be apparent .to those skilled in the art that my new article may be made byany method utilizing the ,principles hereinabove set forth.

Having-thus described my inventionand illustrated its utility, I claim:

.1. An archery target butt comprising a disk of compressed straw, a belt encircling the same, and stitching binding said butt into-a unitary whole; a relatively non-tapered rim on said disk substantially perpendicular to the striking surfaces thereof, the straw on said striking surfaces being crushedrelatively flat and smooth; said disk-comprising a tightly compacted central straw core having the strands thereof twisted helically about the-axis of said disk, and strawtwisted into-ropelike lengths and coiled spirally about said central core, the density of packing of saidspirally coiled straw increasing regularly from the periphery of said disk'to the central region thereof, and also increasing from the striking surfaces to the midsection thereof.

2. An archery target butt consisting of a disk about said inner :ofcompacted fibrous material, a belt encircling the same, and threadmaterial binding said :butt into a unitary whole; smoothed faces .onsaid .disk,

and a relatively non-tapered rim thereon substantially perpendicular to said faces; saiddisk comprising a compacted cylindrical core portion of fibrous material substantially parallel to the axis of said disk, and fibrous strands twisted into rope-like lengths and coiled spirally about .said core portion, the density of packing of said spirally coiled fibrous strands continuallyincreasing from the periphery of said disk to the central region thereof, and also increasing from the striking surfaces to the midsection thereof.

3. An archerytarget butt comprising a disk of compacted fibrous material, a casing encircling the rimof said disk-and maintaining the material thereof under compression, and thread material sewing said butt together; smoothed faces onzsaid disk, and a relatively non-tapered rim thereon; said disk comprising a central fibrous core the fibers of which are twisted helicall about .the

axis-of said disk and fibrous strands coiled about said central core, the density ;of packing of said coiled fibrous strands increasing regularly and continually from the periphery of-said'diskto the central region thereof.

4. An archery target butt comprising a cylindrical central portion of fibrous material wherein the ends'of said fibrous material are generallyipresented to the striking arrows, fibrous strands twisted into rope-like lengths and -.coiled-spirally about said central portion, said fibrous strands being coiled progressively less tightly outwardly from said-central portion, a belt tautlyencircling said fibrous material, and thread material sewn through .said fibrous material and binding the same into a compact disk, .said disk having smoothed faces anda relatively constant diameter rim substantially perpendicular to --said faces.

5. An archery butt, including: a substantially cylindrical innerportion comprisingfibers twisted together about the axis of said inner portion, whereby the ends ofsaid fibersare-generally presented to the striking arrows; and an annularly shaped outer portion surroundingsaidinnerportion and having a substantially cylindrical outer rim, said outer portion comprisingfibrousstrands twisted into rope-like lengths .andspirally wound portion, the density of packing of said fibrous strands increasing regularlyand continually from the periphery of said outer portion to the'central region thereof.

CHARLES A. SAUNDERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 275,111 Alday April 3, '1'8'83 1,818,939 Brading Aug. 11, I931 52;305,2'7 1 :Pearson Dec. 15,1942 

